Bruce Maddox
Commander Bruce Maddox was a male Human 24th century Starfleet cyberneticist, one of the most prominent Federation researchers in that field in the late 24th century. He worked in the Cybernetics Division of the Daystrom Institute and, in 2365, was the Associate Chair of Robotics. In 2341, he was consulted in Starfleet Academy admissions. He was the only person to object to Data's entry on the grounds that, as an android, Data did not qualify as a sentient being. Ever since learning about Data and Doctor Noonian Soong's work, Maddox was inspired to continue it. He followed Data's career remotely while he worked on his in cybernetics. He dreamed of creating more androids to help Starfleet in dangerous situations. In 2365, Maddox earned Admiral Nakamura's support on a proposal to disassemble and reverse-engineer Lieutenant Commander Data in order to gain the final piece of knowledge he needed. After presenting his proposal to Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William T. Riker and Data, Data studied Maddox' proposal and found it to be flawed in its ability to preserve the nuances of his positronic brain, prompting Maddox to assert his authority and order Data to submit by transferring him from to Maddox' command aboard Starbase 173. Data refused and resigned from Starfleet, but Maddox challenged his right to do so, claiming that Data was property, not a sentient lifeform, a position initially supported by Captain Phillipa Louvois of the Judge Advocate General's office. Captain Picard challenged this position, stating that Data is arguably a sentient being as defined by most of Maddox' own criteria. Furthermore, Data currently represented an entire race and duplicating him for the purposes of forced labor constituted slavery. Louvois agreed with Picard's standpoint and ruled that Data was a sentient being with full rights under Federation law. Data nonetheless encouraged Maddox to continue his research. ( ) When Data's program was infiltrated after an Iconian software transmission his systems went down. Geordi La Forge mentioned that an expert such as Maddox, or somebody similar could help. ( ) Despite the troubles inherent in their earlier relationship, Data held no ill will against Maddox, and corresponded regularly with him, keeping detailed records of all inter-personal activities. ( ) Maddox went on to recruit Doctor Agnes Jurati to join him in his research at the Daystrom Institute's Division of Advanced Synthetic Research; among the ideas he developed in his later career was that of fractal neuronic cloning, a technique by which new "twin" androids could be created, even in "flesh-and-blood" human-appearing bodies, from a single positronic neuron of a "parent" android. He disappeared following the Attack on Mars and the banning of synthetics in the 2380's, with his whereabouts remaining unknown despite Dr. Agnes Jurati's attempts to locate him. After his encounter with Dahj, retired Admiral Picard speculated that Maddox had created Dahj and her twin sister, Soji, from one of Data's neurons, inspired by the image in Data's painting . ( ) Appendices Appearances * References * ** ** * Apocrypha In , Maddox, now a captain, argues before Federation President Nan Bacco and the Federation Judiciary Council that B-4 should not be disassembled. He was successful in his arguments against Doctor Lars Patek, and B-4 remained in the custody of Maddox and the Daystrom Institute. External links * * de:Bruce Maddox es:Bruce Maddox it:Bruce Maddox Category:Humans Category:Starfleet personnel (24th century) Category:Starfleet sciences personnel Category:Scientists Category:Daystrom Institute personnel